The following is from a talk at the New York Public Library.

ERIC SCHMIDT: But in fairness to those people[finance people], had they come to Silicon Valley in 1999 they would have received a far greater payoff during our little bubble. So who are we to criticize the Wall Street folks for having their bubble? It was just a bigger bubble.

WALTER ISAACSON: Do you think though that Google creates something that’s more real than somebody on Wall Street creating a financial instrument?

ERIC SCHMIDT: To be honest, not really. When I walked into the company, I said, “People pay you for this thing, these little ads?”

http://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/events/live_2009_11_...